Divine Enigma

Sarah Olaifa

At Divine Enigma, we're here to explore the wonders of neurodiversity amid busy corporate life and career dreams. Our platform is like a cosy sanctuary where everyone - whether you're a professional or an entrepreneur - can join in uplifting conversations. From simple tips for managing projects to self-care practices that work, we're all about helping you grow in your career journey. Picture us as your friendly guide through the twists and turns of corporate life, offering a holistic approach perfect for neurodiverse folks to not only get by but to truly shine in their careers.

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Top 10 Divine Enigma Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Divine Enigma episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Divine Enigma for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Divine Enigma episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Neurodivergent copywriter & Entrepreneurship

Divine Enigma

09/10/23 • 83 min

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Our guest today is Andrew Mcdonald, a neurodivergent copywriter who helps other neurodivergent professionals launch and scale their businesses through marketing campaigns.

A major part of Andrew's work involves considering the personalities of the people he works with. For his neurodiversity which includes OCD, trauma, and Rejection Sensitivity Disorder, it is more challenging to use cold emailing because of the large number of negative responses that come with it.

The first requirement in building a mailing list is having a lead magnet using something that can be offered for free which also has value to potential clients but requires them to offer their email addresses.

Understandably, a lot of neurodivergent professionals struggle with finding the confidence to start a business because of the stigma and negativity often ascribed to their neurodiversity.

Delegating certain roles in the business to better-suited professionals can accelerate growth because it gives the entrepreneur more time to double down on aspects that are within their strengths.

Despite the challenges neurodiverse people face, one of the common strengths of neurodivergent professionals is the ability to build communities around their businesses organically.

The problem of stigma still lingers generally and is persistently at the back of the minds of neurodivergent professionals. This leads to fear of disclosing their neurodiversity.

Andrew has CPTSD which means Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It continuously affects thought processes in everyday life unlike PTSD which is linked more to triggers in high-anxiety situations where previously experienced danger seems present.

For neurodiverse professionals who want to build enough confidence to start a business, it is advisable to break big goals into smaller achievable goals. Growing slowly over time and taking notes of these small achievements helps to build the confidence to face bigger ones.

One of the negative aspects of Andrew’s neurodiversity is difficulty with cold emailing as a result of low confidence, however, he was able to turn this into a positive by figuring out a solution for other clients, and has also taken up opportunities to be a guest on podcasts as a means to build connections.

● Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn

Andrew's free book/website to help neurodiverge

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Music: “She Royalty” by Amaro & “Whistle” by Lukas Got Lucky

Empowering Neurodivergent Individuals: Self-Employed vs. Traditional Employment Journeys

Divine Enigma

08/27/23 • 24 min

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A Joint venture is a business entity involving two or more parties where the returns risk and governance are shared between all the members involved. Profits are also shared often depending on the percentage of capital initially invested by the parties. The venture may later add more investors.

Before starting a joint venture, it is paramount to keep four major considerations in view. The first of these is Careful Planning; assess whether it is the best way to achieve your goals using a SWOT Analysis to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This may be done alongside the business partner. Second is Open Communication; this helps to confirm that all stakeholders understand the basics of a joint venture agreement, including goals, resources, deal duration, and others. In-person meetings and virtual meetings can be interchanged depending on the arrangement.

Next is Building Trust in the partnership; it may be fostered through transparency with information and clearly established performance metrics, all of which reduce unnecessary suspicion among partners. Lastly, Flexibility and adaptability can be very beneficial in creating room for opinions to be voiced and compromises to be made. Regular reviews of operations reveal room for improvement as well as opportunities for change while keeping in mind the legal and financial aspects of the venture. Note that the actions of partners can have a huge impact on the business and other partners.

Gatekeeping means deliberately restricting valuable information or opportunities to a few select individuals who meet predetermined criteria. Unfortunately, very often the same demographic groups are subject to gatekeeping even outside their professional lives but this stifles innovation, diminishes diversity, and promotes inequality.

Gatekeeping affects the neurodivergent community as they are often excluded from access to critical resources and this also limits their ability to contribute. As a result, individual progress is hampered while groundbreaking ideas are obstructed.

Intersectionality is the interconnection between one social characterization and disability as well as how their identities create privileges or disadvantages. Sarah has had to navigate through biases and prejudices that affect opportunities for growth in the workplace.

Starting your business requires planning, commitment, and risk management. Hence, the importance of vigilance, thorough research, and getting professional advice cannot be overempha

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Brilliance Unleashed through Neurodiversity with Onyinye Udokporo

Divine Enigma

07/02/23 • 70 min

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In this episode, I feature Onyinye Udokporo, a successful neurodiversity consultant who is also thriving as an entrepreneur, a speaker, an author, and in several other fields.
Our guest today is Onyinye Udokporo, an entrepreneur, an educator, a dyslexic author, a neurodiversity consultant, and a content creator. She started tutoring classes at 12, which has now grown into one of her full-time businesses, Enrich Learning, aimed at facilitating learning in children and young people. Her other business is focused on creating neuro-inclusive safe spaces for neurodivergent people. Onyinye is now a columnist for Business Leader Magazine.Being black and neurodivergent is possibly the most complicated intersection for several reasons. These reasons include the general issues facing blacks, like the systemic racism restricting them from certain opportunities, the pressure to always be the best, religious beliefs in black communities, and the stigma that stems from a poor understanding of neurodiversity. As a result, black people are less represented in addressing this intersection.
While many workplaces are sluggish in making their environments suitable for neurodiversity, mounting pressure on them may not be the best approach.
Onyinye gave a talk at TEDx Winchester on "How neurodiversity enables phenomenal entrepreneurs" which was the most challenging talk she has had to give, particularly because of the approach speakers are required to adopt for TEDx talks. The experience was a major success and an opportunity to grow for Onyinye. These successes are helping to achieve her goal of encouraging neurodiverse people around her, and hopefully all over the world, especially her roots in Africa. She has also authored the book "Dyslexia & Me - How to Survive and Thrive if You're Neurodivergent".
Sarah is offering a six-week coaching program for neurodivergent and neurotypical professionals who want to improve their career prospects or get into project management and take the PRINCE2 practitioner exam.
Resources Mentioned
● Get Onyinye’s book; "Dyslexia & Me - How to Survive and Thrive

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Agile PM - DSDM Products

Divine Enigma

05/28/23 • 16 min

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The DSDM Agile project framework focuses on a set of products that describe the solution, the main deliverables of the project, and anything required to help with project governance and control or anything that helps with the process of evolving it. The formalities associated with each product depend on the project and the organisation.

Terms of Reference define the top-level objectives of the project. The aim is to justify the feasibility phase. It is a governance product because it may be used for the prioritization of a project in a portfolio.

The Business Case justifies the project. The justification is based on an investment appraisal determining whether the value of a solution to be delivered by the project warrants the cost to produce and maintain support for it.

Prioritize Requirement List (PRL) describes the requirements the project needs to address as well as their priority in meeting the objectives of the project.

The Solution Architectural Definition provides a high-level design framework for the solution, intended to cover both the business and technical aspects of the solution making the scope of the solution clear.

The Development Approach Definition describes the tools, techniques, and practices that will be applied to solution development as well as how quality will be assured. This makes a strategy for testing and reviewing crucial.

The Delivery Plan is a high-level schedule of project increments. It rarely deals with task-level detail except for tasks being done without the involvement of the solution development team.

The Management Approach Definition reflects the approach to project management considering how the project will be organized, stakeholder engagement, and how progress will be demonstrated.

Feasibility Assessment gives an idea of how management products will exist at the end of the feasibility phase when the product should be able to contribute to the feasibility of the product.

The Foundation Summary shows evolutionary solutions and management products as they exist at the end of the foundation phase. Each product should be useful in deciding whether the project will deliver the required ROI.

Evolutionary Solution consists of all components of the ultimate solution alongside deliverables necessary to explore the details of requirements and the solution.

The Timebox Plan provides depth and detail for each time box identified in the delivery plan.

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Ogaga Johnson- Conversations between two PMs

Divine Enigma

05/21/23 • 30 min

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Ogaga studied engineering and then got a Master's in Sustainable Energy Systems. However, she got bored after working in the field for a while and then left the job. She later came across a project management course and had more interest in it. In 2015, she got a job as a project manager using the knowledge she gained from the course she took, and has fully transitioned ever since, working in several countries.
The passion for impacting knowledge led Ogaga to found her project management Edtech company, where she helps professionals begin or advance their PM careers. Her company also helps startup businesses launch their project ideas through PM skills. One of the biggest challenges of project management is stakeholder management.

In managing difficult stakeholders, it helps to listen and truly understand the reason for their resistance. As for cross-functional teams, there are several logistical considerations to make, especially the different work cultures of different teams. Also, part of this is identifying and ensuring the presence of the key stakeholders required for any particular meeting. Sending out meeting minutes and actions after each meeting is necessary, both for those who were not around and as a means to follow up to ensure people do what is required of them.
Highlights of Ogaga's career include situations where she helps professionals get a PM role or advance their careers. Also, being able to talk to a thousand people at a conference was a huge moment as well as generally being able to impact lives. A major cause of burnout in PM is handling multiple projects at the same time. With a similar experience, Ogaga came up with a process to manage multiple projects by noting things down instead of trying to remember everything. This helped her declutter her mind and become more organized. She has now created a video on YouTube explaining her full process to stress-free project management titled "How to Manage Multiple Projects at Once"

Ogaga has used all project management methodologies and there is no single superior one because the method will depend on the project. For longer-duration projects that can be done in iterations, Agile is often preferred.
Sarah is offering a six-week coaching program for neurodivergent and neurotypical professionals who want to improve their career prospects or get into project management and take the PRINCE2 practitioner exam.
Resources Mentioned

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Film Media, Mental Health and Neurodiversity

Divine Enigma

04/30/23 • 53 min

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In this episode, I sit with Rayna Lountzis Rayna is an entrepreneur, and a mother currently engaged in her Doctoral degree in film studies. She has not been diagnosed with any particular neurodiversity but suspects she has symptoms of ADHD. Her self-development journey started 3 years ago after which she also started her company, "Rayna Arts" last year.
Rayna focuses on self-image because she believes authenticity is crucial. Authenticity involves showing up as yourself always, irrespective of the environment. She had to start removing the false ideas about herself to find happiness and a sense of fulfillment. Due to her neurodiversity, Sarah also has difficulty being herself completely but strives every day to attain the kind of freedom that comes with authenticity.

Rayna works on a project called "Evolution Film" which addresses mental health and disability quality in the film industry. Most of the members are neurodivergent and from various backgrounds.
The "Evolution Film" Project started with filling up the gaps in screenwriting jobs. The latest research shows that 9 out of 10 people in the film industry are either struggling with mental health or are disabled. However, some have not disclosed this due to the stigma.

It should be noted that the nuance surrounding mental health often leaves a stereotyped picture of insanity. However, this is not always the case with mental health as there are mental health issues with not very obvious presentations. People need to understand that mental health conditions just need treatment like any other ailment without the stigma.

A change of perspective can also be beneficial; shifting focus from what is undesirable to what is desired, while putting aside all the struggle, traumas, and emotions to reveal our true selves.

Take Away from Evolution Film: Events coming up on the 3rd of May and 19th of July are available on the website”. www.powervibe.club and www.evolutionfilm.org
Check out "Care and Well-being in the Film Industry" on Eventbrite!
Date: Wed, May 3 • 13:00 BST https://www.eventbrite.com/e/care-and-well-being-in-the-film-industry-tickets-615795239137?aff=eand
Addressing Mental Health Symposium: www.amh23.org or to pre-register email : [email protected]

Sarah is offering a six-week coaching program for neurodivergent and neurotyp

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🔒 Understanding AgilePM - come learn with me part2

Divine Enigma

04/16/23 • 25 min

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There are 8 principles of DSDM and compromising them puts the project at risk. The principles are; focusing on business needs, on-time project delivery, collaboration, never compromising on quality, incremental building from firm foundations, developing iteratively, continuous clear communication and lastly, demonstrating control. While trying to maintain control of the project, if stakeholders present a frustrating attitude, the best approach may be to relinquish some of the responsibility.

Every decision taken in a project should be in line with the project goal. It is also crucial to deliver projects on time as this is often the most important success factor. Late delivery can undermine the rationale for the project; it can result in government fines or missed opportunities. Teams that work in active cooperation will outperform groups that have poor cohesive operations. Collaboration increases work speed, shared ownership, and understanding. In DSDM, the level of quality to be delivered should be agreed upon at the start and all work must target that level.
One of the key differences for DSDM in the Agile space is the concept of establishing firm foundations for the project before committing. DSDM advocates first understanding the problem and solution, without excessive detail which can stagnate the project. DSDM encourages incremental delivery of the solution which promotes stakeholder confidence.

DSDM promotes iterative development, frequent demonstrations, and comprehensive review for timely feedback. DSDM was designed to improve communication efficiency. It is crucial to be in control of the project and solutions, hence, team transparency is required. ISFs (Instrumental Success Factors) are factors required to position DSDM projects for success. Risks must be identified early and addressed. The DSDM project approach must be accepted and understood by project stakeholders and participants. Notably, in order to deliver the right thing at the right time, the product may deliver less than a hundred percent of the initial solution.

Building an effective solution development team for successful delivery focuses on 4 elements; empowerment, stability, skills, and size. Each member should be empowered to make decisions based on their expertise while the team also makes decisions as a whole within its boundaries.

For DSDM to be successful, the business must commit the necessary amount of time at all levels. This relies on three elements; the first is the commitment of business time which provides the business direction to shape the project solutions. The second is the

Christian faith and Neurodiversity

Divine Enigma

04/02/23 • 50 min

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In this episode, I discuss a Biblical approach to neurodiversity, citing examples of neurodiverse individuals in the Bible. I also share strategies to promote a neurodiversity-friendly workplace as well as ways to harness the full potential of neurodiverse professionals.
Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world in many different ways; there is no right way of thinking or behavior. However, neurodiversity is often used in the context of neurological conditions or learning disabilities. Neurodiversity was coined by Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist to promote equality and inclusion of neurological minorities.

Neurodiverse people must not be seen as disabled but as people who learn differently. Neurodiverse people are unlikely to think with the crowd; they challenge assumptions, assimilate and process things differently. They are creative, resilient, curious, and innovative.
From the Bible (Gen 9:6, Psalm 8, Matt 22:15, Rom 8:29, James 3:9), it is seen that we are all perfect. Neurodiversity is not a mistake from God. God tells us that he delights in us and we are wonderful just the way we are. Sarah's faith as a Christian has helped her navigate through several aspects of her life, including her neurodiversity.

Jesus started the Christian Church which is one of the biggest organizations in human history. With this, Jesus can be seen in a way as a project manager. His goal was to find followers and organize them to proclaim the good news worldwide. Notably, Jesus exhibited the servant-leader style of leadership.
Certain scriptures reflect how the leadership of Jesus influenced his project management. First, Matt 6:24 describes the importance of finishing tasks one at a time. Matt 13: 24-30; the importance of paying attention to the message. Also, Matt 15:22-25 shows the importance of knowing the project scope. Matt 25:1-30 and Luke 14:25-35 talk about project planning. Mark 1:16-30 and Mark 3:13-19 are about team selection and management. Luke 15:4-6, John 6:67-70, John 13:34-38, and Mark 6:37-44; all these talk about taking care of others. Lastly, Luke 13:20-21 talks about teamwork.

Neurodiverse people are suited to many project roles. Neurodiversity encourages Inclusive non-judgemental language and education instead of assumption.

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Cost Planning and Cost Control

Divine Enigma

03/26/23 • 19 min

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In this episode, I explain the concepts of Cost Planning and Cost Control, highlighting the difference between the two and how they are applied by the project manager to achieve the goal of the project.
Cost planning is the process of estimating the cost of a project before it starts, based on the estimated costs of its smaller components. Cost control is the process of monitoring and controlling the cost of a project and its progress by comparing the actual costs with estimates and making adjustments when necessary. PRINCE2 methodology offers at least a 10% buffer which is a contingency project for unforeseen cost changes. Also, considering the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have); pivotal considerations must be made before any adjustments to a project.

A good project manager must be aware of the cost planning for the project. This starts with a detailed assessment of the project scope as it is crucial to stick to the scope to avoid "scope creep" The goal of cost planning is to provide an accurate estimate which may not be the exact price but can be used to develop a budget. A well-executed cost plan helps to identify cost savings and areas where additional funding may be required.

Cost control is an ongoing process that begins once a project is underway; it involves regular monitoring of the actual cost against the estimated cost. There are fixed costs which usually stay the same and variable costs which fluctuate more. Identifying these costs helps the project manager anticipate likely changes and make adjustments to keep the project on track.

Cost control requires ongoing cooperation between the project manager and the client. The project manager must make recommendations as needed. The team should also be aware of the budget and keep its costs in line with the budget.

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Anfaani App Founder: Overcoming Stigma & Thriving with ADHD as a Black Woman

Divine Enigma

04/14/24 • 85 min

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Motunrayo Oyetunji, Founder and CEO of the mental well-being app "Anfaani". Motunrayo describes her passion for supporting black women in thriving in their mental health through different therapeutic techniques
Somatic therapy examines the correlation between physical and mental states. It combines psychotherapeutic and physical techniques for holistic healing. Somatic therapy focuses on the mind-body relationship; hence, the Anfaani app combines physical and psychotherapeutic modalities to improve mental well-being.

The problem of stigma and religious perceptions still constrain many from reaching out for therapy. Motunrayo was intentional about finding a black female therapist, which was eventually beneficial to her. This was a part of the reason for creating an app to cater to the mental health struggles among black women.
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● Connect with Motunrayo: Anfaani Website (www.anfaani.co), Email ([email protected]), LinkedIn (Motunrayo Oyetunji), Instagram (@Anfaani_inc, @ajikeajoke), Twitter (@Anfaani_inc ),

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FAQ

How many episodes does Divine Enigma have?

Divine Enigma currently has 59 episodes available.

What topics does Divine Enigma cover?

The podcast is about Corporate, Entrepreneurship, Podcasts, Business, Project and Careers.

What is the most popular episode on Divine Enigma?

The episode title 'Christian Faith and Neurodiversity.' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Divine Enigma?

The average episode length on Divine Enigma is 41 minutes.

How often are episodes of Divine Enigma released?

Episodes of Divine Enigma are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Divine Enigma?

The first episode of Divine Enigma was released on Dec 1, 2022.

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Divine Enigma

Sarah Olaifa

Top 10 Divine Enigma Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Divine Enigma have?

What topics does Divine Enigma cover?

What is the most popular episode on Divine Enigma?

What is the average episode length on Divine Enigma?

How often are episodes of Divine Enigma released?

When was the first episode of Divine Enigma?

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